Centers

The Brandeis University National Center for Behavioral Genomics consists of seven research
groups focused on brain function and behavior. The seven lab
heads are all distinguished researchers and faculty members
in the Brandeis Biology Department. All groups are
located in the Shapiro Science Center, a
new, state-of-the-art structure and a focal point of Brandeis'
expansive science complex.

The Volen National
Center for Complex Systems was formed for the purpose of studying
the brain and intelligence. The Center is composed of faculty members
who specialize in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and
a wide range of topics in neuroscience including experimental psychology,
computational neuroscience, and cellular and molecular neurobiology.

The Brandeis Materials Research Science and Engineering Center focuses on developing the relationship between biology and materials science using two complementary approaches. In a “bottom-up” approach, we build on our expertise in the
understanding of relatively simple systems (liquid
crystals, colloids, polymers, oscillating chemical reactions). We explore how adding constraints typically found
in biology – confinement, crowding and local forces that compete with
and sometimes frustrate long range order – leads to emergent properties. In a complementary “top-down” approach, we study
functional cellular components, which are complex combinations of
materials with specific constraints. Qualitative
and quantitative analyses of their structure and properties, deconstructs these “devices” by modifying or removing constraints, to
understand how the combination of materials and constraints leads
to biological function.